The WORST episodes of Mama's Family
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Mama's Family mined humor from a squabbling family in the Midwestern blue collar suburb of Raytown. The noisy clan was headed by "Mama" Thelma, a buxom, gray-haired widow with sharp opinions and a sharper tongue who shared her small house with her high-strung sister Fran, a journalist for a local paper. Mama's lazy, dimwitted son, Vint, a locksmith by trade, moved in at the start of the series with his troublesome teenage children, Buzz and Sonja, after his wife run off to become a Las Vegas show-girl. Much to Mama's disgust, Vint soon took up with the flirtatious neighbor Naomi. The two where married in early 1983, and Naomi moved in too. Further uproar was caused by the periodic visits from Mama's two married daughter's, the foul mouthed Eunice and the snobbish Ellen. Ed was Eunice's Dolt of a husband. In the Fall of 86 Mama's Family returned to TV in first-run syndication. Fran had recently passed (Rue McClanahan was now starring in The Golden Girls) and Ed and Eunice had moved to Florida, leaving behind their son Bubba as he finishes his time in Juvenile Hall and forcing him to move in. Meanwhile, neighbor Iola Boylen makes the house's acquaintance and becomes a regular visitor with her unique charm.
#1 - My Mama, Myself
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/17/1988
When the family starts thinking about selling a brooch that belonged to Grandma Crowley, her ghost (played by Vicki Lawrence) starts haunting Mama.
#2 - Mama Gets the Bird
Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1988
After Uncle Oscar passes away, Mama is willed his gabby pet parrot. The bird then starts reciting verses in rhyme, which the family thinks are clues that will lead them to Oscar's rumored hidden treasure.
#3 - Bed and Breakdown
Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/12/1988
When Raytown is crowded due to the Tri-State Fair, the Harpers decide to rent out a room in their house in order to make some money. However, they end up overbooking and needing to rent out three rooms, leading to chaos between all the houseguests.
#4 - Mama Goes Hawaiian (1)
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/20/1988
After winning a trip to Hawaii on Jeopardy!, Mama and her family go on the trip, along with Iola. Iola and Bubba each find romance, Mama is pestered by a man she believes is a beach bum, and Naomi is confined to the hotel room with a terrible sunburn.
#5 - The Return of Leonard Oates
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/13/1983
Naomi's second ex-husband returns to seek her favor.
#6 - Mama's Layaway Plan
Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/11/1989
After coming back from a cousin's funeral where she and Effie were the only mourners, Mama starts planning her own lavish send off.
#7 - An Affair to Forget
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/1989
Mama suspects that Vint is having an affair with his new trainee Heather, so she and Iola go to his workplace to investigate.
#8 - For Better or for Worse
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/29/1983
Vint and Naomi get together, much to Mama's chagrin.
#9 - Bubba's Double Date
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/5/1988
Wanda Lynn, Bubba's sexy date for the prom, stands him up at the last minute and Bubba cannot find anyone else. Without Bubba's knowledge, Mama sets him up with Iola's nerdy niece, Vernette.
#10 - The Sins of the Mother
Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1988
After Bubba comes home late and drunk, Mama is enraged and gives him an excessive punishment. He does not know why she is being so irrational, until Iola tells him (via flashback) about a similar incident involving Eunice when she was Bubba's age.
#11 - Mama Mania
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/1987
Didi, an old friend of Naomi's and a professional wrestler, talks Naomi into being a last-minute substitute for her ailing tag-team partner for a match. When Mama accidentally knocks Didi out just before the match, Naomi and Mama have to wrestle against Didi's weighty opponents.
#12 - Pomp and Circumstance
Season 4 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/26/1988
Bubba and Mama are graduating from high school, but devastating news for Bubba forces Valedictorian Mama to ensure that she and Bubba and make it to the graduation ceremony in time.
#13 - Workman's Holiday
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/5/1987
When Mama embarrasses Vinton at work with the "Binky Bunny" lunchbox she made for him when he was a kid, she must find a way to cure him of his trauma before he loses his job.
#14 - Bye-Bye -- Baby!
Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/24/1990
When Naomi is upset about her baby being late, Mama tries to calm her down with a false story about Carl. Mama tells Iola what really happened (both the false and true versions are seen in flashback, with Carl played by Ken Berry). Later that day, Naomi goes into labor and Mama ends up delivering her baby girl, Tiffany Thelma Harper.
#15 - A Taxing Situation
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/22/1989
Vinton and Naomi persuade Mama to make some creative deductions on her income tax form, which results in a visit from an IRS agent.
#16 - Mama Sees Red
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/12/1987
A man from the State Department asks the Harpers to host a Russian national named Olga for one day, as part of "Project Heartland." Unfortunately, their actions persuade her to defect to America.
#17 - Baby Talk
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/12/1988
Naomi decides that she wants to have a baby. Mama, who is determined to prevent this, arranges for a neighbor's constantly screaming baby to spend the day with Naomi and Vinton.
#18 - There Is Nothing Like the Dames
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/17/1990
Vinton and Naomi buy an RV and plan to move to a trailer park; however, they are unable to start the vehicle once it is in the driveway. Meanwhile, Mama is planning to host a fancy backyard luncheon for an snooty society group called the Dames.
#19 - Cellmates
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/26/1983
Eunice and Mama wind up in jail after they cause a disturbance at the Bigger Jigger.
#20 - A Grave Mistake
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/7/1984
Mama throws a fit when she realizes they buried her husband in the wrong cemetery plot.
#21 - Alien Marriage
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/2/1983
Vint gets roped into a crazy scheme to marry an illegal alien for money.
#22 - Black Belt Mama
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1984
Mama decides to take a self defense course after being mugged.
#23 - I Do, I Don't
Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/23/1988
After attending a family wedding, Bubba, Mama, and Iola fantasize about what married life would be like with the objects of their affections.
#24 - My Phony Valentine
Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/18/1989
It's Valentine's Day, and Mama falsely says she has a date so that Iola will feel free to go out. To support her lie, Mama orders an escort from "Rent-a-Gent."
#25 - Steal One, Pearl Two
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/1986
Bubba's credibility is doubted when he shows up with a new drum set around the same time Iola's pearls go missing.